All it needs is your attention!

The essential intermediary step for creative fruition

Last year, I had some space in my garden, so I sprinkled some flower seeds into the soil. I remember being quite busy that season, and I thought nature would just take care of the seeds. But the seeds never became flowers.

Of course they didn’t. I withdrew and forgot about them.

Sometimes we underestimate the difference our simple presence actually makes.

Part of being in relationship with plants (or anything we want to grow) is being an active participant in the gift exchange that is life. So this spring, I tried again. I sprinkled the same type of flower seeds into my garden soil. And this time, I am paying attention. Has it rained? No? How much time has it been? I look at the soil, feel it with my fingertips, take it in with all of my senses, be present with it.

Only from this sensory presence can true receptivity and responsiveness begin to take shape. The impulse to care, to tend to, grows out of attention. Attention is therefore not a background detail, it is the beginning. It is essential.

My hypothesis: The only willfully conscious shift we ever need to make for cultivation is to place our attention on what we want to cultivate. The rest unfolds from there.

Hear me out.

So far my hypothesis is proving true. Every day at some point I share my presence with the soil. Today I noticed some seedlings that were too close together. I noticed the cosmos have sprouted their second set of leaves, a distinct shape, and I can’t yet tell the difference between the scabiosa and the cornflower sprouts - they look so similar. We’re in conversation. I’m there.

I am realizing the real secret to growing my flower sprouts isn’t that I water the soil and weed diligently like a good gardener. Growth doesn’t begin with action or skill, it begins with generous, yet simple, attention. No care can happen without attention first. Attention is the necessary primordial glow from which all else arises.

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I have written about the comparison between creativity and the garden before, but this season around, what really strikes me is the chain of cause and effect that is born from the direction of attention. Since attention makes for a very effective first domino, we must define attention as its very own step when it comes to what we are trying to create, and consciously know it as a method itself. What does attention look like by itself, and how much easier and approachable is it than skipping over to action?

We often procrastinate on projects or practices because we jump straight to thinking about the first action we need to take, and perhaps we avoid it… because it is an action, and actions are tasks. Tasks! We can get overwhelmed by tasks. Ever heard the phrase “starting is the hardest part?” But what if there is an intermediary step before starting? A very small shift that precedes the action that makes everything so much easier and fluid? And what if it’s not that difficult at all?

That step is attention alone. I invite you to give attention its own designated purpose. Simply, easefully, casually, intentionally direct your attention toward your practice, your project, something you are to create or do. In the simplest way, just be with it without an agenda first, and see what happens next. What probably happens is that you gather information, and that begins a series of unavoidable impulses to respond.

Directing your attention mostly involves observation. Be receptive, not yet productive. From that place, the right move bubbles up automatically without you needing to think hard at all. Completely un-forced. This is about curiosity, not expectation or pressure. You don’t have to do anything. But it will probably end up that you will.

Attention is subtle.

Placing the attention is a significant shift toward what we want to do and grow. However powerful, it is quite subtle. Energetic. Innocent. Internal. And for that reason, it is easy and low-stakes. Before any doing, let yourself be bare, with no instrument yet in hand. All this involves is your openness to let perception be your guide.

When I perceive the soil, this only has to mean gently walking outside to my garden with my eyes open and nervous system relaxed. I might see that it’s dry and needs water. Or I might not. Either way, I still gave my garden my attention, and that alone I feel makes a difference, even if I don’t always do or change something. It’s almost like the energy of the attention is what most helps the seeds grow. It’s almost like the seeds can sense the attention.

Wait, is this magical?

All I know is that the experience of being with before tending to is very different than sitting in a room in my house and thinking that I should go out and water the garden, or having a garden watering schedule. Attention gives me the opportunity to be realtime responsive.

Let’s venture out of the metaphorical garden and step into some practical examples.

Examples from the creative process

Let’s say you’re a painter, but lately you’ve been feeling stuck or uninspired. The canvas is blank. You keep telling yourself you should paint something, but every time you sit down, you feel blocked or overwhelmed.

Now, instead of pushing yourself to take action and just start painting… begin with the simple ease of attention as your only intention.

You walk into your studio and simply look around. No pressure. You sit with your materials. You notice the way the shadows from the bright window garnish a certain spot in the room and it’s all shimmering. You pull out your sketchbook. Not to draw, but just to flip through past pages and notice what catches your eye. You observe your art materials and colors that make you feel something. You study your own impulses without trying to turn them into a task. You allow yourself to be present with your practice before needing to produce.

Maybe that’s all you do that day. Just attention.

But this is NOT nothing. This is something.

Maybe next, something in you stirs. Maybe you start to think about how you might achieve a certain texture, or you wonder about mixing a new color. These aren’t forced to-do list tasks, they’re invitations that arise from simply, physically, paying attention.

The next day, or even a few minutes later, you find yourself painting without any friction. Not because you had enough willpower to force yourself to put the paint brush onto the canvas, but because you had enough softness to first honor the power of your curious attention, which just so happened to casually turn into authentic responsiveness, leading you to doing the thing you wanted to do (paint) with a lot more ease, direction, and flow.

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Say I am between projects but I know I’d like to begin preparing some surfaces for more art. Pausing to give attention before taking any action would be me going into my supply storage space and seeing what I already have. That might spark the discovery of some materials from another project I forgot about! Then, the impulse to gather them arises, and all of a sudden I’m physically making something or organizing.

Or, for the little book I am working on. Instead of waking up and making a to do list item that says “write x number of paragraphs in the book doc”, beginning with simple attention first could look like creating a quiet space to notice my surroundings and take note of what is really important to me right now and how that shapes what I am energized to write about next. This could also mean simply being present with my writing document. Re-reading through what I wrote last. Sitting with it for a minute or much more. And all of a sudden I’m editing and adding more words.

The creative process is sparked by active presence, not the idea of an action.

Being in physical proximity is key. Sitting next to and touching art materials (touching art materials is the new “touch grass” and luckily for me those are generally the same) or being inside of a space designated for making is often all that’s needed to kickstart some creative energy. And yes, this must be done in the material world. Attention does not mean looking at photos on a phone, scrolling the apps, or online shopping for supplies. That is not the same. That is not what we’re after here. You need your real life body made of meat, bones, juices, nerves, sense gates, and electricity for this kind of attention.

What if you’re stuck or stalled in the middle of a project? Perhaps some time has gone by and a project has gone on the back burner. The assignment here is just to pull it out, touch it, feel it, see it, be with it, (bop it?) Just give it some attention. What comes out of that, whether it is to put it back down or reinstate some momentum with it, will come directly from your present being, and it will be perfectly authentic for what is needed most in this moment.

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Prompts for attention:

• What is something I care about or want to grow, but haven’t given my time or attention to lately?

• How can I gently shift toward it?

• What is the smallest, most subtle way I can do that?

• How does physical proximity to something change how I relate to it?

• How does physical proximity to something influence how / how often I tend to it?

• In what ways can I use my senses for presence?

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Residency timespace

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I will soon shift my attention toward raw nature and the subtleties of reciprocal relationship soon as I embark on my first artist residency, where I hope to co-regulate with plants, ocean, air, and whatever else I encounter. You won’t hear from me during my trip, but I look forward to sharing what I discover upon my return!

With love,

Kristen